Evaluating italian attitude and behaviour toward Fair Trade products

In the context of food consumption, several issues have been widely discussed in reference to a large array of attributes and product types used as evidence of growing consumer feeling toward ethical issues linked to moral and social consciousness. Animal welfare, fair prices for farmers, social aspects of production, and preservation of cultural features, are some of the product attributes for which consumer behaviour has been analyzed in the context of ethical consumerism. This paper aims at providing insights into consumer motivational systems and their relations with fair trade product purchasing behaviour. In order to pursue this goal, the effectiveness of two alternative approaches, proposed in the literature and tested in Belgium and Germany, were formally assessed in Italy. The two sets of scales were tested for predicting purchasing behaviour by using a sample of Italian consumers

Fair Trade Attitudes and Consumer Behavior in Italy: a comparative analysis of two attitudinal scales

This paper aims to provide insights into consumer motivational systems and their relations with fair trade product purchasing behavior. In order to pursue this goal, the effectiveness of two alternative approaches, proposed in the literature and tested in Belgium and Germany, were formally assessed in Italy. The two sets of scales were tested for predicting purchasing behavior by using a sample of Italian consumers. Although both sets of scales showed good internal reliability and statistical evidence of behavioral predictive validity, one of the two sets under assessment is able to depict actual behavior in much greater depth than the other

Antecedents of Intention and Behavior Towards Fair Trade Products: A Study on Values and Attitudes in Italy

The current study investigates the significance and power of direct and indirect effects of values and attitudes on intention to buy fair trade products and on self-reported behaviors. Drawing on previous research, we selected three attitudinal measures – Consciousness for Fair Consumption, Environmental Concern, Moral Reasoning – and two categories of human values, Power and Universalism. Through a web-based survey conducted in Italy we collected data analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results showed that Universalism exerted a positive indirect effect on buying fair traded products while Power exerted a negative effect. Therefore, according to Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), the intention was the only direct antecedent of behavior

Neumonía por COVID-19 en niños: De su etiología a su manejo

El COVID-19 es menos serio en niños que en adultos. Sin embargo, las afecciones respiratorias dominan el cuadro clínico de pacientes hospitalizados por COVID-19, aun en niños. En algunas series de casos, el deterioro del estado clínico, donde la disnea, la cianosis y el inicio del síndrome de dificultad respiratoria aguda (SDRA) emergieron ∼8–10 días después del inicio de la infección por SARS-CoV-2, pudo progresar rápidamente hasta la falla multiorgánica y la muerte. Esta revisión tiene como objetivo evaluar las características de la neumonía por COVID-19 en poblaciones pediátricas, comenzando con su etiología y sus mecanismos patológicos, para cerrar con su manejo clínico

The Role of Sensory Profile in the Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Consumers Choice

sensory profiles promoted by the Extra-virgin olive oil (EVO) is an important element of the Mediterranean diet and a valuable agricultural crop for Southern Europe countries in terms of both farm income and cultivated area. Moreover, given the increased popularity of the Mediterranean diet among consumers in US, Canada, Australia and large parts Asia, EVO consumption has grown almost worldwide.In Italy olive-oil production has switched from low yields and low-input cultivation to a capital intensive farming system involving innovations of both agricultural practices and processing techniques: sensory characteristics of the product were significantly improved, changing the traditional taste from “neutral odour and flavour” and well known organoleptic features, to new complex sensory profiles. This evolution is due to the developments that have taken place in the sensory analysis of olive oil and the use of trained panel responses as a means of monitoring and guidance in the production of quality oils.Currently, agricultural research and sensory panels managed not only to identify what aspects of taste and smell are indicators of quality of the oil but also the correlation of these with the production techniques. The situation today is that consumers can find on the market EVOs characterized by well-differentiated sensory profiles. On the consumption side, however, buyers seem still to prefer neutral flavour oils with little or no personality. This aspect deserves a central position in present research on EVOs because consumer preferences risk undermining all efforts to improve the quality of the product made from the production side. In the following work, the role of sensory components in the consumers preferences of EVOs will be explicitly evaluated through an Hedonic Price model. During October 2012, a sample of 68 EVOs available on the shelf of a Supermarket belonging to one of the largest big retailers operating in Italy were bought. The 68 different EVOOs were also evaluated by a panel of expert tasters to get a precise sensory profile for each of them. The results estimation of a simultaneous two equations model well highlighted the idiosyncrasy of the consumers’ preferences towards the trained experts

AUTOMATED SEMANTIC AND SYNTACTIC BIM DATA VALIDATION USING VISUAL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is part of a digitalization process that, in recent years, has been revolutionizing the way buildings and infrastructures are designed, built, and maintained. Compared to traditional processes, BIM enhances the production and the management of data related to buildings and infrastructures throughout their life cycle. It is founded on a three-dimensional graphical model based on the specificity of project goals following the “level of information need” defined in BIM procurement documents. In this framework, an automated process for checking information within a BIM model plays a role of fundamental importance. Although this increases the model’s reliability, on the other hand, it decreases the time of working. Therefore, this research aims to develop a working methodology based on Visual Programming Language (VPL) for an automated BIM Data Validation process. This workflow aims to meet the growing need of owners to centralize data relating to their real estate assets to always have the appropriate one at the operational level. This methodology has been tested in different case studies to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of using a standardization protocol in a large portfolio and complex buildings. This allows the huge amount of data from BIM models to be checked and summary reports to be produced, sharing with the various stakeholders involved in the knowledge process

How Firm Performs Under Stakeholder Pressure: Unpacking the Role of Absorptive Capacity and Innovation Capability

Organizational innovation capability is a critical competitive strategy to generate and execute ingenious ideas necessary to offer new services, processes, and products to stay relevant and competitive. This becomes important in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who depend significantly on stakeholders for an uninterrupted supply of relevant resources to produce and provide offerings to the markets amidst fierce market competition to stay competitive. We draw upon resource dependence and dynamic capabilities theory to investigate how stakeholder pressure acts upon SMEs to utilize their absorptive capacity of developing innovation capability to improve their overall performance. We collected data from 291 SMEs from the manufacturing sector to test the hypotheses of the study. Results suggest that absorptive capacity mediates the influence of stakeholder pressure on innovation capability. Furthermore, innovation capability too mediates the relationship between absorptive capacity and firm performance. This article contributes to theoretical and practical implications

Comparison of Content in Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity in Grains of White, Red, and Black Sorghum Varieties Grown in the Mediterranean Area

orghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) is a gluten-free cereal with many varieties containing greater amounts of bioactive compounds than other grains. In this work, the phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity were compared in three sorghum varieties grown in the Mediterranean, consisting of different pericarp colors: white, red, and black. The qualitative and quantitative profiles of acidified aqueous methanol extracts of whole grain sorghum flours were elucidated through ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to photodiode array (PDA) and ion trap time-of-flight (IT-TOF) mass spectrometry. The investigated sorghum varieties contained polyamines, such as spermidines, and polyphenolic compounds belonging to different classes: hydroxycinnamic acids, flavanols, flavones, and flavanones. Pyrano-flavanone-flavanols were detected only in the black sorghum. Precolumn and postcolumn 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)· radical scavenging assays to determine the main antioxidant compounds isolated from sorghum were developed. These results will further help develop sorghum varieties containing polyphenols relevant to the potential prevention of human diseases